"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Happy Birthday J-Dawg

Well it's official. My precious little boy is no longer a little boy. He has overnight grown into a handsome young man. It all happened so fast and I feel so unprepared. Will somebody do something? It's gotten to where I am afraid to blink.

Monday was Jalen's 14th birthday. We have been blessed to have him in our lives for fourteen wonderful years and I am not sure how we survived life without him. Jalen is our third son. And I thought I wanted a girl. Silly me!

Jalen is amazing! He is thoughtful, quiet, kind and mellow. A good word to describe him is even tempered. With him you always know what to expect. He is a hard worker and probably put in longer hours helping us get moved than all the other kids put together.

Jalen is creative and artistic. You should see the drawings he does in his art class. They are almost as good as the ones he does in his science, english and math classes. He loves to build and put things together. For his birthday Dathan brought him a whole truck load of lumber. Since then Jalen has been busy building a fort and baracades to turn our back yard into a airsoft gun battle ground.

Happy Birthday J. You are such a blessing in all of our lives. Thank you for being our middle child. It is a difficult spot and you have handled it beautifully. I love you more than words can say. How lucky I am that you are mine.

11 comments:

I love my J-boy. I guess it won't be long before I have to call you my J-man. You are so special to me sweet Jalen. I was so lucky to get to hold you all night your first night on earth while your mommy got a little rest and daddy was home with Jordan and Justin. I will never forget how much I loved you and how glad I was that you had joined our family.... I still feel that way. Much love, Grammy

You have such a lovely family Lynell. Happy Birthday Jalen! What a super young fella he sounds! Of course we all know the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree so you must be really special parents as well. :-)

It happened. He looks grown up. I never thought it would happen. But, holy cow! It did.

To me, Jalen will always be that sweet, little innocent-faced boy who would ride his bike to my house for piano lessons while trying to balance his bike with one hand and holding his piano books in the other.

He was always one of my favorites, and there were times he would bring his latest drawing to piano lessons and show them to me. And yes, they were amazing, even years ago.

"In my ninety-plus years, I have learned a secret. I have learned that when good men and good women face challenges with optimism, things will always work out! Truly, things always work out!"~ President Gordon B. Hinckley

I am one of the lucky ones who's life has turned out even better than I ever could have imagined. I am a wife to a strong and sexy man. I am a mom to five amazing kids. I am a daughter to two of the greatest parents in the world. And I am the sister to three people whom I admire, respect and love with all my heart.
I love my life and am excited to see what fun adventures the future holds.